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W. E. BENNETT. BUTTON FEEDING DEVICE FOR. BUTTON $EWING MACHINES.

No.378,330. I Patentedwov ls, 1887.

N. PETERS Phnlo ullwgnpher. Washington D.-(:,

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.-

(No Model.)

W. E. BENNETT. BUTTON FEEDING DEVICE FOR BUTTON SEWING MACHINES.

No. 373,330. Patented Nov. 15, 1887.

UNITED STAT S v PATENT rica.

WALTER E. BENNETT, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ssisnon TO THE MOR- LEY BUTTON SEWING MAOHINE COMPANY, OE sAME PL OE.

BUTTON-FEEDING DEVICE FOR BUTTON-SEWING MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 373,330, dated November 15, 1887.

Application filed October 25, 1886. Serial No. 217,081. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WALTER E. BENNETT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Button i Feeding Devices for Button-Sewing Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements, in machines for attaching buttons to fabric; and the invention consists in improved devices for taking buttons from a hopper and for conveying them to a point where they are to be sewed onto the fabric, and for holding them in proper position for the needle while the latter sews them on, and including an improved presserfoot operating in connect-ion with said devices.

In the drawings forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a plan View of devices for moving buttons from the hopper-trough to the cloth-plate of a button-sewing machine constructed according to my invention, said figure showing a portion of the button-trough in transverse section, the improved presser-foot connected with said devices, and a portion of the rod which connects the devices with any suitable moving part of said machine, a part of the upper side of said devices being shown broken away. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of said devices, (the presser'foot being removed therefrom,) in which is shown a portion of the needle of a machine and the end of the horn of the latter in dotted lines. Said figure also Shows the lower end of a button-trough having its end in operative position relative to said devices. Fig. 3 is a rear side elevation of said devices, the presser-foot, and a portion of the button-trough, showing asection of the horn of a machine and of the cloth-plate there the cloth-plate is located, a button'hop'per, and a trough conveying buttons from the latter, and mechanism to take buttons from said trough and carry them to a position over the clothplate and under the needle of the niachme.

. In the drawings, 3 indicates the lower end of a button-trough whose upper end may be connected to any suitable button-hopper and which is adapted to take buttons therefrom, said buttons sliding downward in a line in said trough, as indicated in Fig. 2, in which some of the buttons are shown.

In Fig. 2, 4 indicates in dotted lines the end of the horn of the machine, on which the cloth-plate is located at 5, said horn being shown in section, together with said clothplate in Fig; 3, as aforesaid. Said Figs. 2 and 3 clearly indicate the relative operative positions of the lower end of the button-trough and the horn of the machine, and they are both thus particularly referred to in order that the operation of said improvements may be more clearly understood, as the purpose thereof is to receive the buttons one by one from the end of the trough 3, turn the buttons one-quarter round, so that their shanks shall be brought to a horizontal plane, and presentthe latter at the edge of the cloth-plate and under the point of the needle 6, said devices holding the button in afixed position'while it is being sewed to the fabric, and having a motion in consonance wit-h the feed-motion of the machine after the button is sewed on, so that there will be no unnecessary strain on either the needle or the stitch when the button is carried away from the button-holder.

The button-holding and moving devices are attached to an arm, 7, which is, by any suitable connection with a button-sewing machine, given a vertically-reciprocating motion to lift the button-holding devices when the material is fed along on the horn 4., and to drop them to bring the shank of the button against the fabric when the needle is to operate to sew on the button.

The lower end of the button-trough 3 is adapted to be retained in such connection constantly with the button holding and carrying devices, as is illustrated in the drawings, in order that the regular delivery of buttons from the trough may not be interfered with by said vertical reciprocating movements of the button-holder; and, therefore, in practice, the buttonhopper to which the said trough is attached is pivoted on the machine in the manner shown and described in said patent, to allow the end of the trough to move up and down with the button'holding devices. Said devices consist of an intermittentlyrotating circular plate, 8,having its edge turned slightly upward and having notches in the latter to receive the shanks ofbuttons, as shown in Fig. 2, and directly adjoining said notches in the upper side of said plate are recesses 9, to receive a portion of'the button. The plate 8 is attached to the lower end of a shaft, 10, which passes through the end of the arm 7, said shaft having on its upper end a crankarm, 12, capable of a free reciprocating rotary motion. A ratchet, 13, is fixed on the shaft 10 between said crank-armand the upper side of the arm 7, and the latter has pivoted thereon, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, a pawl, 14, which engages with the ratchet 13. A second pawl, 15, is pivoted on the upper side of the arm 7, which also engages with said ratchet for the purpose of preventi ng any backward movement of the shaft 10 and the plate 8 during the operation of the crank-arm 2. Said reciprocating motion is imparted to said cranlcarm by its connection with any suitable moving part of a machine by means of a rod, 16, which is attached to the end of said arm. A plate, 17', in the form of a segment of a circle projects horizontally over a portion of the upper side of said plate 8, or over so much thereof as the button moves in going from the trough 3 to the cloth-plate, and plate 17 has a groove in its under side, (indicated by in Fig. 2,) which groove is concentric with the circular border of the plate Sand forms a channel which the buttons follow as they move from the trough to the cloth-plate.

In Fig. 3 is shown the junction of the lower end of the buttontrough with one edge of said plate 17, wherein is shown that a part of the end of the button-trough 3 extends down to the border of the plate 8 and reaches sufficiently over said plate to deposit the buttons on the latter, and that one side of the end of the button'trough is cut away to permit the edge of the plate 17 to project under the end of the trough. That part of the edge of the plate 17 which projects under the end of the trough 3 is formed at an incline at 0, as shown in Fig. 3, and room is left between said plate 17 and the adjoining vertical portion of the button-trough to permit the shank of a button to slide or move thercbetwcen uninterruptedly, so that a button may freely drop from the trough onto the plate 8. A spring, 20, is socured at the rear side of the groove in plate 17, to press against the button and insure the projection of its shank beyond said border, as shown in Fig. 1.

The presser-foot 18 is secured by one end to the side of the arm 7 and extends in a curved form therefrom toward the end of the horn 4, and thence it is doubled upon itself and extends over the cloth-plate 5 in a line with said born, as shown in Fig. 3, such form being given thereto to provide for the free action of the needle between the presseri'oot and the border of the button-holding devices, and to provide for an unobstructed view of thesewing devices while they are in operation, said arrangement of the presser-foot (the latter receiving its usual vertical reciprocating motions from the arm 7, to which it is attached) obviating the inconveniences, so tar as a clear view of the work is concerned, which pertain to the attachment of the prcsscr-foot to the usual presser-foot bar.

In the edge of the plate 8, adjoining the notches therein in which the shank of" the button'lies, are formed other notches, c, which engage with the border of the buttorrshank when the button is about to leave the end of the trough, and thus facilitate the turning movement which is given to the button as it takes its place between the plates 8 and 17. An elastic pin, 21, preferably of leather, is held by a screw, 22, against the edge of the plate 8,t0 friclionally steady the motion of said plate.

The operation of my improvements is as follows: By reference to Fig. 3 it is seen that the trough 3 is provided with a groove, d, in which the shanks of the buttons hang as the latter move down toward the buttonholding devices, and the curved form of said trough serves to bring each button, as it arrives at the end thereof, against the plate 8 with its shank standing in a vertical plane and can tending slightly over the edge of said plate, as shown in Fig. 2. A rotary movement of plate 8, whereby one of the recesses therein is brought under the button, then causes the lower button to move sidewise away from the end of the trough, letting the succeeding button fall on plate 8, and the shank of said button is carried against the inclined edge 0 of the plate 17 and thereby the button is caused to be turned one-quarter over, so thatits shank is brought to a horizontal plane within one of the notches in the edge of said plate 8, and the button then takes the position shown in Fig. 1, and the next movement of plate 8 carries the button under plate 17 and brings it to the posh tion over the cloth-plate 5, (shown in Fig. 3,) where the line 00 indicates the track of the neodle. The button is sewed on while it is held between the plates 8 and 17, and after said sewing the plate 8 again rotates, carrying the sewed-on button from under plate 17, (co-operating with the fabric-feeding devices of the machine,) and by the same movement another button is brought to a position under the needle. The aforesaid rotary movement of the plate 8 under the end of the trough causes the said notch c in the edge of said plate to engage with the border of the button-shank at the same time that the opposite or upper border of the shank strikes the said inclined edge 0 on the IIO the prompt turning of ing over and covering a portion of the surface of said rotating plate, having therein a button-groove opposite said button-recesses, substantially as set forth.

2. Button conveying and holding devices for button-sewing machines, consisting of an intermittently-rotating plate having buttonrecesses in its surface and notches in its border to receive the shanks of the buttons, and a button-carrying trough having its end terminating over said plate, combined with a fixed plate extending over and partially covering the surface of said rotating plate, having therein a button-groove opposite said button-recesses, and having one edge thereof extending partly under the end of said trough, substantially as set forth. l

3. The plates 8 and 17, constituting means, substantially as described, for carrying and holding buttons in a button-sewing machine attached to a supporting-arm, 7, combined with a presser-foot attached also to said arm and extending opposite the borders of said plates and over the horn 4 of said machine having the cloth-plate thereon, as set forth.

substantially I 4. The supporting-arm 7, the plate 17, fixed to said arm, having a button-groove in its under side and its border at one end of said groove inclined, as at 0, the plate 8, having button-recesses 9 in its surface and button-shank notches in its border attached to a shaft passing loosely through said arm, whereby it is secured opposite the plate 17, a ratchet secured on said shaft, a crank-arm loosely secured on the latter, having thereon a pawl engaging with said ratchet, and a bu tton-trough communicating with said plates to deliver buttons on the plate 8 at one edge of the plate 17, combined and operating substantially as set forth.

5. Button conveying and holding devices for button-sewing machines, consisting of an intermittently-rotating plate having buttonrecesses in its surface and notches in its border to receive the shanks of the buttons, and a button-carrying trough having its end terminating over said plate, combined with a fixed plate extending over and partially covering the surface of said rotating plate, having therein a button-groove opposite said button-recesses,

WALTER E. BENNETT.

\Vitnesses:

H. A. CHAPIN, WM. H. OHAPIN. 

